Ballad of a Broken Soul
by xxlilmusicxx
Summary: Harry was wrongly convicted to Azkaban for the death of Cedric Diggory. As the months pass, he just couldn't bring himself to care anymore. When you're insane, everything else just seems so meaningless. Dark one-shot!


**Just a little one-shot I wrote, inspired by a review I got in one of my stories. Cheshire-the-Assassin, this one's dedicated to you, so I hope you enjoy the story!**

**Also, the poem below is my own writing, so I hope you guys don't find it too horrible.**

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Harry Potter; it all belongs to J.K Rowling and Warner Brothers Inc. However, I do own Alex.

**Pairings:** Implied Harry/Hermione, and Draco/Alex

**Warnings:** Slight Language, Dark themes, and Character Death

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_Insanity is unavoidable_

_It was a two-way street_

_Either a key to sure victory_

_Or a road to formidable defeat_

"No, please... NO!" Alex shrieked and thrashed against Draco, Blaise and Theo's hold as she witnessed the Aurors drag her twin brother out the courtroom. "He's innocent! Harry's INNOCENT!"

Everyone in the room seemed to be sending her pitying glances, and she hated it. They all believed that Harry had been responsible for Cedric's death in the TriWizard Tournament. The Ministry, being the daft lot that they were, refused to believe Harry's claims of Voldemort's return, and every time Alex had vouched on her twin's behalf, they merely implanted the idea that Harry had confounded her in their heads, as she had been unconscious by the end of the third task.

They thought Harry was guilty, and now, he was going to Azkaban.

After the trial, Alex had distanced herself from the rest, snapping at people who offered her their condolences. She refused to speak to her peers, Slytherin or otherwise, especially her brother's Gryffindor friends. They disgusted her the most. Besides herself, they were supposed to know Harry best, they were to supposed to remain at his side through thick and thin, yet they had just allowed him to be sentenced to a life in Azkaban.

Didn't they see that he was framed? Probably not. She clearly saw the doubt in their eyes as Harry made his claims.

"He's back!" Harry had screamed when Minister Cornelius Fudge had sentenced him to imprisonment, "I swear, I'm not lying! Voldemort's back!"

When she had stood and voiced her agreement and support, Fudge promised that she were to join her brother in Azkaban for attempting to conceal his crime. Daphne, Theo, Blaise and Draco were quick to pull her back onto her seat despite her struggles, and much to her chagrin. No one else protested. No one else dared to go against the Minister's decision.

Arses, the lot of them. Some friends they were.

Alex turned to Dumbledore, McGonagall and Snape. There was a look of resignation present amongst the three of them, though Snape's had been concealed, his eyes spoke differently. She even turned to Madame Bones for help, but the sad and apologetic look in the stern woman's eyes told her there was nothing she could do. Harry's fate was sealed.

_There was no trust, no love_

_Only images unrefined_

_Filled with anger and despair_

_A dark trick of the mind_

Harry grunted as he was roughly shoved into his cell, already dressed in ragged prisoner clothing, the rusty iron bars slamming shut behind him. The cell was dark and damp, and awfully dreary. In the corner was a bunch of laid out rags, stained with blood or vomit he couldn't quite tell, and he could see the Demetors hovering just outside the small barred window.

And hopefully, they would stay there.

But even that wasn't enough to keep away the effects of their presence, and he had no wand to save himself. Nothing to cast a Patronus with.

Harry fell to his knees, clutching his head. His mother's screaming echoed in his ears, the bright green flashes of the killing curse before his eyes. The thought of his friends came forth in his mind. They had turned their backs on him without a second thought. Ron and Hermione, who had stood by him throughout most of the Tournament, had left him to rot in this dank prison cell. And Alex... she had tried to help him, but he knew it was pointless. It was a couple of fourteen year-olds against the Wizengamot.

He could still speak to her through their mind-link, but his addled mind refused to let him do so. He couldn't concentrate with all the thoughts and memories pouring in at once. Something in his mind was ready to snap, bit by bit. But maybe, if he listened hard enough, he could hear her voice calling his name over and over.

_Harry... Harry... Harry..._

Maybe, if he was still sane enough, Harry would be able to hear her reassurances, her promises to help him escape that dreaded prison cell. But everything was deaf to him. At that instant, everything came crashing down on him: the pain of everything he had lost, the pressure of living up to the expectations, the stress he had undergone during the Tournament, the betrayal of the people he had grown to care for, worry over Sirius and his sister, if he were to ever see them again.

At that instant, something broke inside of him.

And Harry Potter was no more.

_Clawing at you, bit by bit_

_Before you can no longer ignore the call_

_Watch as your resistance crumbles_

_Behold the madness that shall befall_

The nightmares never ceased. Every night, Alex would wake up screaming, but her dorm mates had never noticed due to the silencing spells she had cast around her four-poster bed. But the lack of sleep was taking its toll on her. Every day, she would walk the halls with dark circles surrounding her hollow green eyes.

She barely talked, only speaking when directly spoken to. She barely ate, and she was growing skinnier than she had ever been. Her friends were worried about her. They tried to cheer her up, but her mind was muddled, unable to comprehend everything going on around her.

Her grades had dropped, and it was then, the Professors had gotten involved. They had taken her to Madame Pomfrey, to get her diagnosed. She was malnourished, traumatized, and depressed. All the memories that flooded Harry's mind, flooded hers in turn. Painful glimpses, horrible images flashed before her eyes as she slept, as she walked, as she sat in classes, and she was unable to do anything. Her head pounded, the blood pumping in her ears so profoundly that it made her want to cry, want to scream her frustrations out.

But she didn't. Nor did she tell anyone how much she was suffering.

She could distinctly hear Harry pleading with her amongst the nonexistent chaos, and it pained her, broke her heart, made her want to rip her insides in guilt. She didn't do enough to help him.

_Your fault... All your fault... It should have been you..._

NO! It was that rat's fault! It was Voldemort's fault!

_It should have been you..._

If only she hadn't fallen unconscious, would it still be the same? She and Harry could have gotten away with a few hate notes, or maybe they would have both been chucked in Azkaban. Either way, they would have been together - it would have been better.

"It's my fault." she whispered.

Draco, who had heard her speak for the first time in what seemed like weeks, pulled her close to him in a tight hug. She didn't hug him back, her arms limp at her sides. She knew what she had to do.

_Hear the wickedness whispering in your head_

_Feel the iniquity corrupt your soul_

_Cracking, tearing, splitting apart_

_Until you are no longer whole_

It's been five months, not that he could tell anymore. In his mind, time was meaningless, a figment of imagination.

Harry rocked back and forth on his spot on the damp floor, shivering, muttering nonsense. The Dementors were gone for the time being, and an Auror was watching him closely from just outside his cell, along with one Albus Dumbledore.

"I assure you, Mr. Potter has been cleared of all charges by the Wizengamot. It just happened this morning," said Dumbledore to the Auror standing in front of the iron bars, presenting him with a scroll officially signed by the Minister of Magic. The Auror nodded, opening the gate to Harry's cell. Dumbledore entered, accompanied by seven others: Sirius, Remus, Ron, Hermione, Ginny, Molly and Arthur.

Dumbledore hesitantly approached the shaking boy, eyes filled with regret. "Harry..."

Upon hearing his voice, Harry looked up at him unseeing. His usually bright green eyes had a crazed glint to them, but he didn't speak.

"Harry," Dumbledore began again, "We're here to get you out. You're free now, my boy."

A smile graced Harry's lips, and he said suddenly, "Alex promised me she'll help me. She always keeps her promises."

The group exchanged a look. Sirius and Remus in particular, look very troubled, though Remus looked grief-stricken more than anything.

Hermione rushed to him, tears streaming down her cheeks as she pulled Harry into a tight hug and apologized profusely, ignoring the sweat, dirt, and blood that covered the young boy. Wait... blood? The brunette released him, shock on her features as she saw the scarlet liquid seeping through Harry's shirt.

"H-Harry, what have you done?" she whispered brokenly.

"Mom and Dad can't help me. Alex can't help me. No one can help me." muttered Harry dementedly. "They're dead. All dead. I'll be dead too."

The group was stunned, lost. How had the boy known?

Sirius had dropped to his knees in agony; Remus buried his head in his hands. Arthur was holding a sobbing Molly close to him, and Ron could only gape at his best friend - well, ex-best friend now, it seemed. Ginny looked on sadly, and the twinkle in Dumbledore's eyes had vanished completely, making him look as old as he actually was.

"Well don't just stand there, do something!" Hermione cried.

It was useless, though. By the time they had gotten to St. Mungos, Harry had lost too much blood.

_Thump. Thump. Thump._

His heart had stopped, but the smile remained on his face. He was going to see his parents and sister soon.

Earlier that same week, Alex's body was found beneath the Astronomy tower, the same odd smile plastered on her face, and a note clutched in her hand.

_I'm sorry,_ it said.

The Wizarding world was horrified, at how Harry had been wrongly convicted for a crime he didn't commit, at how Alex had killed herself out of immense guilt, at how both twins had lost their minds to the darkness that consumed it. They had lost their saviors, and there was nothing they could do. Voldemort would surely win the war now, so all they can do now, is hope for another miracle.

_Insanity was inescapable_

_Each turn leading to a dead end_

_For you shall fall into its clutches_

_No matter how you fend._

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**I know it wasn't very good, but I hope you guys enjoyed it! Please review and tell me what you think!**

**~Cassandra**


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